t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you! right now, a diplomat is not facing charges after allegedly trying to smoke during a flight from d.c. to denver. the incident caused a security scare for passengers and airline officials. a setback for rescuers searching for the missing west virginia miners. crews have been met with dangerous levels of gases underground. and as many as 20 people are displaced after an early morning. it took nearly 70 firefighters to put out the flames. "news 4 midday" begins right now. good morning, everyone, and weldcom to "news 4 midday." i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. thursday, april 8th, 2010. a diplomat, an illegal smoke break and some miscommunication. that's all it took to set off a

massive terror scare in the air. it involved a flight heading from reagan to denver, and this morning we're learning more about the confusion on board. news 4's tracee wilkins reports. >> reporter: when they say no smoking on a plane, they are absolutely serious about that. a diplomat found that out last night, and so did a plane full of people. mohammed yaaqob y.m. al madadi, a qatari diplomat, is accused of having a quick smoke in the lavatory of an airplane. that urge ended with him in custody and fighter jets in tow. it started yesterday on a flight headed from reagan international airport to denver. the "today" show interviewed one of the passengers who sat near al madadi. >> we knew something serious was going on. we didn't know if it was a device or a bad guy. >> reporter: officials say a passenger on the flight smelled smoke coming from the bathroom and reported it to a crew member. when the flight attendant questioned the diplomat, he joked, saying, "i was trying to light my shoes," and assumed reference to the so-called shoe bomber. >> the last time he went to the bathroom, he was in there for

quite a while, 15 minutes, and when he came back, he smelled of smoke. >> turned out he was putting out a cigarette on the sole of his shoe. fighter jets flew beside the plane and air marshals sat with him until they landed and he was taken into custody. the passengers say it was a calm process. >> i have to say both the air marshals and the united crew were unbelievable. the air marshals did so much to keep the situation really low key. if you weren't right there within two or three rows you wouldn't have any idea what was going on. >> reporter: foreign diplomats have broad immunity from prosecution, but a diplomat accused of a crime could be asked to waive their diplomatic immunity for trial. but they could refuse and be expelled from the u.s. folks we talked to traveling at reagan international airport today say this diplomat should have some kind of punishment. >> it's a tough call. i mean, i think he needs to be punished in some way. >> i don't think we can do criminal charges. he's a diplomat. that's why he should be deported. >> reporter: the smoking ban on planes is a federal ban.

the fine can be more than $3,000, but high-ranking officials tell the associated press that this diplomat won't be facing any criminal charges. at reagan national airport, tracee wilkins, news 4. >> qatar's ambassador to the u.s. has released a statement about the air scare. it says, "we respect the special security precautions involving air travel but this diplomat was traveling to denver on official embassy business on my instructions and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity. the facts will reveal that this was a mistake and we urge all concerned parties to avoid reckless judgment or speculation." new at midday, a restaurant is raided in st. mary's county at 7:00 this morning. detectives from the vice narcotics division executed a search warrant at the st. mary's landing restaurant after complaints of illegal gambling. detectives seized approximately $12,000 in cash, four electronic gaming devices, and ledgers and documents that support charges of illegal gambling.

>> they're video gaming machines, basically. money is put in, a bet's made and there's a game of chance, and that makes it a gaming machine. and then once the machine indicates what the profit would be or what the winning is, then there's a payout from the boss. >> the state's attorney will review the case. charges are pending. taking a live look outside right now at 11:04, 77 degree, a lovely day outside, summerlike weather, but we'll finally get some relief. meteorologist bell intel in the storm center with the changes in the forecast. good morning, chuck. we are looking for another warm day outside today, temperatures zooming into the mid and upper 70s across the area. started out this morning with temperatures generally into the upper 60s, 69 downtown, 67 in fairfax county this morning. there were a few 50s for places like frederick, maryland, and martinsburg, west virginia. current temperatures on their way up. 75 downtown, 78 at dulles international, nearly 80,

though, in frederick, maryland, and 76 degrees in winchester. here's a check of the radar. rain showers running a little bit behind schedule. here we are in the washington area over here. eventually these rain showers will make their way into the washington area, but it's probably going to be 10:00, 11:00, almost midnight before the majority of the heavy rain pushes into the immediate metropolitan area. your forecast for today, cloudy skies will be in the air by later on this afternoon and this evening, showers and thunderstorms, the heaviest of which not just after 8:00 but it might be after 10:00 or 11:00 this evening until about 1:00 or 2:00 tomorrow morning. check of the seven-day forecast coming up. eun? >> chuck, thank you. jerry edwards has an update on the midday traffic. hi, jerry. hi, eun. let's look and see how we're doing at this hour, making a trip out and about. south capitol street to the douglas bridge closed and will be for possibly another hour. they're just doing some testing of the draw span over there. so no access either direction, south capitol street at the

douglas bridge. you can use 295 or pennsylvania avenue. south of town, roadwork might slow you down a bit. outer loop of the beltway eving alexandria, across the wilson bridge, construction takes away the right lane heading up towards oxon hill. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. another setback in the search for four missing miners in west virginia. the state's governor says the air quality in the mine has deteriorated once again. crews had been ventilating the mine since monday's explosion, which killed 25 miners. the mine was supposed to be safe enough to enter at 4:30 this morning, but rescuers are now on their way back out of the mine. jay gray has the latest from raleigh county, west virginia. >> reporter: day three of the rescue effort began with word crews had moved back into the mine. >> right now we're in full rescue. the rescue is basically that we have four unaccounted for. we want to make sure that we're able to locate and hopefully by

some miracle and a sliver of the hope that we have we find somebody. >> reporter: as the frantic rescue effort continues in the mountains of west virginia -- >> scary, very scary. >> reporter: -- we're learning more now about what happened inside the upper big branch mine at the time of the blast. >> it became very severe wind, dust, dirt, debris, blowing. >> reporter: stanley stuart had just started his shift. as he made his way back to the surface and safety, it quickly became clear dozens of his friends had not. >> these guys still in there, very good buddies. people don't understand the camaraderie between coal miners. >> reporter: a bond that pulled close to 300 into the streets late yesterday. their silent march in memory of

lost and the four still missing. >> it's really powerful because nobody understands coming from a coal town what it's like. and for everybody to know how close-knit our community is amazing. >> reporter: the strength they've come to rely on as so many here continue to struggle through this tragedy. jay gray, nbc news, raleigh county, west virginia. >> the confirmed death toll of 25 is already the highest in a u.s. mine since 1984. if all four missing miners have died, this will be the deadliest u.s. coal mine disaster since 1970. new today, the search for a man accused of spreading hate. u.s. park police are looking for this man. they say he's responsible for racist vandalism in our area. his name is ronald edward bost jr. he's known to hang around arlington county public library, the national mall, the iwo jima memorial and the george washington parkway. police say if you see bost, don't approach him. call 911 instead.

a fire at a prince george's county town house complex forced several families out into the streets this morning. that fire started just before 2:00 a.m. in the 7800 block of jacobs drive in green belt. it appears the fire started in the back of an end-unit town house. the flames then spread up the back, through the roof, and then shot across to several other homes that were connected to it. three of those townhomes appeared to be a total loss. two others were damaged. neighbors tell us the flames spread very quickly. >> it was really fast. really fast because of the wind. and it went from the first house to the second house and then to the third house they put a hole in the roof and it stopped it from going to the fourth house. >> no one was injured. however, 19 adults and two children were forced out of their homes. there is no word what caused the fire, but investigators say it appears to be accidental. 11:09 is your time now.

77 degrees. signed and delivered. coming up, the latest on president obama's trip to prague to sign a nuclear agreement with russia. plus, a walk-in closet the mission spr astronauts in space. and pollen is everywhere, causing big problems for those who suffer from allergies.

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to reduce their nations' nuclear arsenals. president obama and russian president dmitry medvedev signed a groundbreaking pact earlier today. news 4's elaine reyes is live in the newsroom with more. good morning. good morning, eun. president obama hopes it shows the united states is leading by example by working with russia to keep the weapons out of the wrong hands. it's called the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, and it decreases the amount of nuclear warheads and long-range missiles. the white house plans to post the treaty's text online today. a historic moment. two signatures to shrink america and russia's nuclear's arsenals. >> a significant reduction in the nuclear weapons that we will deploy. it cuts our delivery vehicle by roughly half. >> reporter: it happened in the medieval prague castle. the treaty does need senate approval, and some republicans say it sends the wrong message and that the u.s. is backing off

a key tool in its defense. >> want more money for nuclear weapons modernization, for example, big issues. it was like a pledge not to put restrictions on future missile spending. >> the president will say, look, nuclear weapons to deter a nuclear attack on the united states, not for a whole range of other threats. >> reporter: after the signing, president obama said the new treaty was just a first step towards further nuclear reduction agreements with russia as well as international efforts aimed at stopping iran from pursuing its program. >> we are working together at the united nations security council to pass strong sanctions on iran, and we will not tolerate actions that flout the mpt, risk an arms race in a vital region, and threaten the credibility of the international community and our collective security. >> reporter: the s.t.a.r.t. treaty needs 67 votes in the senate to be ratified next week. the president is hosting 46

nations for a nuclear summit at the washington convention center. we've been talking a lot about that, eun. back to you. >> that's right. a lot of traffic down there. elaine reyes, thank you. tonight on news 4, a one-on-one with first lady michelle obama. she talks to jim vance about her favorite parts of living in the district, her favorite places to visit, and why it's so important to touch the lives of local children. >> it means getting out of the white house and going where these kids are. it's important for me personally to be in anacostia and to see kids where they live, but it's also important to have those kids come here. >> you can watch the first lady talk one-on-one with jim vance tonight on news 4 at 6:00 and 11:00. nasa is still working around the space shuttle's broken antenna to get data it needs to see if there was any damage during the launch. meanwhile, the international space station has a new walk-in closet. overnight, astronauts lifted the 13-ton cargo carrier from space shuttle "discovery" and attached it to the space station.

in the next few days, they will unload a new bedroom, freezer, supplies, and science experiments. tomorrow, astronauts will do their first of three space walks to replace an ammonia tank that cools the space station. very cool pictures always from space. they got a new walk-in closet, chuck. isn't that fun? >> better than that, eun. imagine, you know, like how hard it is to reach the things on the top shelf in your real closet. imagine floating in space. >> don't need it. all the shoes you could possibly want, grab them out of the air. >> and stack them up the wall as far as you want to. you can float up and get them. >> i need one of those in my house. >> i would love an anti-gravity chamber at my place, but i don't know how to install that at cost. outside on a beautiful thursday, sun is streaming down through a blue sky, and man, are the temperatures jumping up fast. already a lot of spots into the high 70s right there. current temperature at nation nalt airport, very warm, 75 degrees, south wind averaging 15 miles per hour. i did a little checking. we just finished up the warmest

first week of april on record. the warmest april we've ever had was 1981, and the first week of april that year was 11 degrees warmer than average. the first week of april that he we just finished was 15 degrees warmer than average. unbelievable. not to mention back-to-back 90-degree days in april for the first time since 2002. it is 78 degrees already at dulles airport, 79 in frederick, maryland, 77 in hagerstown, so a lot of sunshine is helping put temperatures up. no breezes today. that south to southwesterly wind flow will get eve bane side locations up to the mid to upper 80s in a few spots. here's a check of regional doppler. there are some showers and embedded stronger thunderstorms now. a couple of severe thunderstorm warning out near charleston, west virginia, in that cluster there. the showers extend into far southwestern virginia and northeastern tennessee. that's all moving in our general direction, but it's running behind schedule, so as a result it's going to be many more dry hours around here before anything in the way of rainfall

starts to move into the area. if you look at the bubble of warm air out ahead of the front, mid-70s. back behind the front, chicago, illinois, current temperature 38 degrees. so, yes, a big change coming with the weather behind this powerful cold front that's moving on in, high pressure that we've enjoyed all week long with our case of really summertime is giving way, the cold air diving down on the backside of that front. the clash between the warm and the cold air is the reason we are under a slight risk for severe thunderstorms, not so much this afternoon. now it's looking more like an evening to late evening threat. here's our futurecast model. by 8:00 tonight, the front still just to the west of the appalachian mountains. by 8:00 tomorrow morning, the front will have gone through, and the last of the rain drops should be falling about 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 tomorrow morning. a northwesterly breeze pushes much cooler and drier air back in place. tomorrow's high temperatures will be on average about 30 degrees colder than today. so don't forget, the chance for some severe thunderstorms around here, primarily after the sun goes down. we'll be keeping a very close

weather eye to the sky for that. rainfall amounts with this next system about half an inch to an inch on average across the area. the pollen count is at 4,000 today. so you don't even have to be an allergy sufferer to appreciate how high that number is. increasing clouds, thunderstorms by this evening, the heaviest of which will probably come between 9:00 tonight and 2:00 tomorrow morning. highs today low to mid-80s. your extended forecast here, high temperatures tomorrow, only in the upper 50s. then as we get into the weekend, saturday morning, a lot of spots out towards the blue ridge and the shenandoah valley may have to worry themselves. a little bit of a frost first thing saturday morning. saturday afternoon's highs in the mid-60s, sunday low to mid-70s, then our stretch of milder than average weather continues again on into early next week. eun, we desperately need the rain showers to get this pollen count back into tolerable ranges. >> everyone's sneezing, eyes are running. >> yep. >> good news. thank you, chuck. we have breaking news right now from prince george's county.

a serious car accident in prince george's county. it happened a short time ago at central avenue and enterprise road in largo, maryland. two cars were involved with one of them splitting in two. the driver of that car was ejected and suffered life-threatening injuries. the driver of the other car was also seerlsly injured. police are investigating the accident. central avenue near enterprise road is closed at this time. let's check in with jerry edwards to see how the rest of the midday traffic is looking right now. bad accident, jerry. >> yeah, unfortunately. authorities are still dealing with the cleanup, so the detours may remain in place for a while on 214 and 193, so heads up if you're headed that direction. roadwork not causing too much of a problem. live pictures of i-270, southbound, left side of your screen, construction barrels in the distance. coming down from montgomery village, gaithersburg, no significant slowdowns getting past and that is very good news. one more stop. this not pretty. this is 395 northbound at 14th street bridge.

construction is back again today, midspan with that far right lane blocked, and because of the location of the flashing arrow there, traffic coming off the g.w. parkway has to merge in and hopefully everybody's being nice and letting folks merge. that's a real tough spot to do the roadwork this time of day at the 14th street bridge. back to you. >> jerry, thank you. 11:21 is your time. still ahead, d.c. is doing something about the stinky gingko trees. and top chef is in d.c. where the show is filming and happy hour is one of the topics of today's weekend scenes, the best spots for sushi. here's what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

top chef has landed in the nation's capital. bravo is filming the seventh season of the hit tv show in washington. according to the "washington post's" reliable source, they started taping this week. the post reports that the show's judges were all seen outside the melon auditorium on constitution avenue yesterday. while it's unclear exactly what was going on, it seemed like they were filming an episode for the upcoming season. "top chef d.c." could reportedly start airing as early as this

summer. former nfl star tiki barber is the latest celebrity to be caught up in a possible cheating scandal. the nbc correspondent recently separated from his wife of 11 years. ginny barber is eight months pregnant and is expecting twins. now "the new york post" is reporting that tiki barber left his wife for a 23-year-old intern that he used to work with. barber and his wife also have two other sons who are 6 and 7. 11:25 is your time now. in the next half hour on "news 4 midday the eyes of the world will be on augusta, georgia, today. we'll have the latest on tiger woods. and the new commercial everyone will be talking about. plus, a twist in the confederate controversy in virginia. what has governor bob mcdonnell doing a little backtracking? and it's coating cars and windows everywhere -- pollen. don't blame it all on the flowering trees. we'll explain. [ male announcer ] are you watching cable?

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that's 1-888-884-fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. right now on "news 4 midday," rescuers are headed out of the west virginia mine that was the site of monday's deadly explosion. poor air quality forced thome abandon attempts to rescue four missing miners. the crews are losing hope those miners will be found alive. 25 people died in monday's blast. if those four missing miners die as well, this will be the deadliest coal mining accident in the u.s. in 40 years. president barack obama says he's confident the senate will ratify the nuclear arms treaty he signed this morning with

russia. it requires both countries to slash their warheads by about a third. president obama says the treaty sets an example for iran and other nations by showing the world two leading nuclear powers would abide by international obligations. the treaty was signed in prague this morning. a qatari diplomat is not expected to face charges after sparking a bomb scare on a flight from d.c. he apparently lit a cigarette in the bathroom last night as the plane approached denver. flight attendants smelled smoke, and fighter jets were scrambled. today, tiger woods returns to professional golf. he tees off this afternoon in the first round of the masters in augusta, georgia. tiger's played in the masters more than a dozen times, but this will be the first time his golf game may not be the focus. kristen dahlgren has more from augusta national. >> reporter: as tiger woods prepared for what is likely the most anticipated round of golf in history, came a voice from the past. >> tiger -- >> reporter: in his first new ad since the scandal that shocked the nation, a recording of his

late father has some questions for his son. >> i want to find out what your thinking was. i want to find out what your feelings are. and did you learn anything. >> reporter: but earl woods wasn't the only voice with words for tiger. from the chairman of the masters on wednesday, the message was harsh. >> our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children. >> reporter: and so, even after days of practice, and that press conference, and dozens of autographs that the old tiger would never have signed -- >> it was, like, really shocking that i got this autographed twice. >> reporter: at the start of golf's most storied tournament, stories of woods' alleged infidelities still cast a shadow over the spotlight. >> this is a test he's never had to experience before. he is stepping into unknown territory. >> reporter: stepping off the first tee with him will be matt

kuchar. >> it's exciting. a front-row site for a memorable time in history. the tiger woods story is fascinating. it's kind of captivated the world, and i think it's -- it will be nice to get him back in the golf arena. >> reporter: woods now hoping his game leaves him not just champion of the masters but the master of the comeback. krist kristen dahlgren, nbc news, augusta. it feels like summertime, and, indeed, it smells like it, too. the warm weather has gingko trees coming to life earlier than expected, and that includes their fruit. people who live in the district know gingko fruit can give off an unpleasant aroma. starting tonight, crews will be spraying the trees to keep the odor at bay. and pollen is filling the air like never before. you probably notice it all across the country, forcing those even with the mildest of allergies to stay indoors. record levels of pollen are popping up this spring. nbc's chris clackum shows you

what you can do about it. >> reporter: falling from trees and covering cars from the southwest to the southeast corners of the country, record pollen has created a run on pharmacies from people with running noses. >> what happens is your nose starts running like a faucet and it doesn't stop. >> reporter: pharmacies, in fact, are having to restock allergy medicine daily. >> we've had to plan ahead for ordering more because we were running out every day of the same things. >> reporter: the trouble is largely in the trees and not so much the pretty flowering kind. >> pines, definitely, the major contributor, with oaks probably not far behind. >> reporter: and allergists say the sudden explosion in pollen can be placed to the unusually cold wet winter. >> now that it's suddenly warmed up and it's been a little bit moist recently, i think that the trees and the grass is just doing it. >> reporter: so it's pollen behind the haze hanging over greenville, south carolina, and to blame for the yellow blanket over birmingham. pollen is measured in

particulates per cubic meter. so a pollen count of 1,500 is considered very high. in atlanta wednesday, the pollen count was nearly quadruple that. almost 6,000 particulates per cubic meter. car washes are loving it, but not the customers. >> i don't like it on my truck at all, especially being black. >> allergies, i think pollen is the antichrist. >> reporter: only some steady rain can bring relief to the regions the hardest hit by this year's record pollen. chris clackum, nbc news. >> and we are certainly feeling it right here in the washington area. we're hoping that the rain forecasted tonight will help with all this pollen and wash it all away. chuck, what do you think? >> i agree that the rain showers are exactly what we need to help clear the atmosphere out a little bit. our pollen count here in the washington area is just over 4,000 grains per cubic meter.

that means you bring in about 4,000 pollen grains every hour that you spend outside. 4,000 of them. and you have to be allergic to at least one of them. that's just the way luck is. outside now, you can sort of get the general idea between the haze and the sort of yellowy-green film that's hanging in the air. not a beautiful blue sky overhead today. and a bit of a south breeze coming up the potomac river, as well, keeping temperatures at national airport only at 75 degrees but temperatures are warmer than that, away from the water now, 78 in fairfax and loudoun counties, northern virginia, 81 degrees in frederick, maryland, and 76 in annapolis by the bay. still watching on the radar here. the nearest showers to us are moving into far southwestern virginia and western west virginia, all associated with a very strong cold front coming our way. as a result, the clash between the warm air that we have and the cool air we're going to be getting could generate some severe thunderstorms. so we're under a slight risk for severe thunderstorms. the primary threat time now

appears to be moving back just a little bit so that is welcome news. you don't need to worry about anything in the way of rain or storms this afternoon or early this evening since the showers are running behind schedule. the heaviest of the showers and thunderstorms potentially between about 9:00 tonight and 2:00 in the morning. high temperatures today once again into the low and mid-80s, some 20-plus degrees warmer than average. tomorrow, maybe a lingering shower early, but other than that, sunshine by tomorrow afternoon, breezy and cooler on tomorrow's high temperatures will be in the 50s, and we may have some scattered frost in the western suburbs and the shenandoah valley by saturday morning. saturday afternoon looks great. sunday looks even nicer. >> very nice. looking forward to rain. >> you and me both. >> chuck, thank you. >> you're welcome. people are cleaning up after heavy rains and floods swept away dozens of homes near rio de janeiro, brazil, last night. at least 138 people have lost their lives in the heaviest rain in more than 40 years in the region. there have been more than 200 mud slides since monday.

a final check of the midday traffic now. jerry edwards has the latest conditions out there. good morning. >> hi, eun. let's see how folks are doing on the capital beltway. left side of your screen, that's the inner loop as you make the trip from springfield to i-66-roadwork along the way and as a result traffic very slow indeed. the outer loop headed to braddock road, springfield, beyond that, looks pretty good at this hour. good news there. let's check things out. 95 southbound, traffic is crawling from the beltway headed down to lorton because of the work zone. but the good news is vdot just a few moments ago flipped over the hov lanes to the southbound configuration so that may help some of the flow coming down from the capital beltway. a little good news headed in that direction. not great but better than it was 30 minutes ago. eun? that's a good thing. jerry, thank you. a car accident in anne arundel county has left two dead and a third injured. it happened around 10:30 last night on donaldson avenue near walnut grove road in severin.

police say a truck collided with an suv which then caught on fire. the victims were pronounced dead on the scene. no word on the third victim's condition. police are trying to figure out what happened. a b.b. gun led to a scare at a prestigious school in the district, and now two students are facing charges. police received a 911 call yesterday morning alerting them to someone holding a gun near st. albin's school. it was locked down and police searched the grounds of the national cathedral where the school is located. an 18-year-old and a another student, a minor, were arrested. they face charges of illegal possession and illegal transportation of a b.b. gun. new at midday, three teenage girls have been charged in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide. phoebe prince was a freshman at south hadley high school in massachusetts. she hanged herself in january after a case of extreme bullying. prosecutors say prince was targeted after she briefly dated a popular boy.

16-year-old ashley long, sharon shannon velasquez and flannery mullins are charged with civil rights and stalking counts. they did not show up for their arraignments this morning. their lawyers are expected to enter not guilty pleas on their behalf. virginia governor bob mcdonnell has made changes to his proclamation that made april confederate history month in the commonwealth. mcdonnell says he's sorry for not mentioning slavery in his declaration. the ncaa m is one of several groups furious with the governor who helps the designation will attract touristings next year to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. mcdonnell added a passage to proclamation yesterday. it reads in part, "it is important for all virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice." 11:38 is your time. still ahead on "news 4 midday," the latest from wall street after morning reports of unemployment and retail sales. and looking ahead to the weekend, how about sushi for

happy hour?

the organization 100 black men is working to improve lives of thousands of children every year. their motto is "real men giving real time." joining us is michael melton and pastor anthony about a gala being held tomorrow night. thanks for joining us. tell us about the ways your organization is doing what your motto says it does. >> okay. real men giving real time is an example of working with the children in mentoring,

education, health and wellness and economic development. we do programs to teach them each one of these and help them with their life skills and development 37 in particular, on saturdays, we have a saturday leadership academy at howard university and we work with them on speaking, introducing themselves, how to study, and how to prepare themselves to be better individuals in society. >> you reach out to these children at schools? >> we go to their schools and we do direct tutoring at the schools. for example, at the high school, and we bring them to us and activities also. >> and pastor macklin, you've been working with the organization. you're being honored at tomorrow night's gala. tell us about the work you've done with the organization. >> first of all, it's a tremendous blessing, and let me say thank you. we've been honored and we've been given the opportunity not only to work with youth but to work with the community. we've been honored for community empowerment. our responsibility, our challenge is to make sure that we empower the community so that we change people. i know it's a multilevel tier of

approach, but if we can do that, not only through mentoring and scalp programs which we do at the church, of course, but also through making sure that we have opportunity for economic development, to plan businesses, to teach management skills, to teach entrepreneurship. >> and how do you get more men to want to get involved and to make the commitment of time? it's hard to do. you know, you're an attorney, you're a pastor. you have busy schedules, busy lives. where do you make time and find time? >> we go out and recruit, and we try to point out to people who didn't need mentors as well as those who needed mentors. myself, i'm a result of a lot of people touching me at different points in my life and keeping me on the right path. so i want to give path and i try to find people with the same feeling. >> do you find there is a particular need right now in terms of the youth? >> there's always a need. there's been a need for years. we practice reach one, touch one. it's all about leaving a legacy, what's going to be said about us as men after we've left this

earth, how we're going to instill values into our children, the next generation, and they have to take care of us when we're senior citizens and run this great country. >> pastor macklin and mr. melvin, thanks for joining us today. tickets and donations are available online to 100 black men d.c. dot-org. retailers post strong sales gains for the month of march. courtney reagan joins us with more on that and the rest of the business headlines. good morning. it's been a pretty busy day on wall street. i'm glancing over and seeing the dow down only about 16 points, definitely off the lows of the morning. investors are a little rattled by comments from a top fed official yesterday, some carrying over into today. he said that interest rates should actually be raised to head off inflation, making people a little nervous. a report also showing consumer borrowing fell more than expected. and we have a surprise in first-time claims for

unemployment benefits. they rose last week. the labor department says those initial claims jumped 18,000 to 460,000. this is after an addition of jobs from that big jobs report so, a little confusing there. and the nation's retailers like you mentiond are reporting bether than expected sales numbers for march. target for same store sales rise more than 10%. robert roma, who used to be the chairman of citigroup, spent today in testimony on capitol hill and said almost all of those involved in the national financial crisis missed the powerful combination of factors that led to the crisis. they all bear responsibility for not recognizing it. ruben said he deeply regrets that, some pretty strong words there. and cnbc has confirmed reports that usair and united are in merger talks although neither airlines are commenting. it would create the nation's second largest airline. talks are aimed at cutting costs and competing with delta

northwest but are not in advanced stages. they've been down this tarmac before. if it sounds familiar, that's because in 2000, a $4 billion merger was shot down by their union and the justice department and in 2008, three-way talks with continental met with opposition from the pilots' union. and toyota says it has no comment on a potentially damaging internal e-mail from a former u.s. executive. ifr miller wrote, we need to come clean about the gas pedal problems. the time to hide on this one is over. the e-mail was written five days before toyota announced the massive recall. miller has since retired. back to you, eun. >> courtney, thank you. see you tomorrow. he doesn't say much but the smile on the face of this week's "wednesday's child" says it all. he's hoping to share that smile with parents who will love him the way every child deserves. here's barbara harrison. >> hi, anthony. hi! how are you? anthony is a 5-year-old, and

although we had never met, he greeted me with the enthusiasm of an old friend. at least until a video caught his attention on the other side of the room. want to see barney? let's see barney. it was actually a bunny, not barney, that he was pointing to. and watching videos is one of his favorite things to do here at his foster home. >> anthony came into care in february 2005. actually, he's been in foster care all of his life. >> reporter: he says anthony was born with the challenges of fetal drug exposure. his growth and development were compromised from birth. but he has dop dwoped into a sweet and very friendly little boy. yeah. anthony attends special education classes, and although he's still trying to catch up in his speech, he's very good at following directions. ready? one, two, three. yay! >> anthony is a wonderful young man, very affectionate, loves to

hug and loves to have stories read to him. and he's just a real sweet young man. his favorite cartoon i believe is dora the explorer. he likes to play games, just loves to be the center of attention, makes friends fairly easy at his daycare, which he enjoys thoroughly. >> reporter: social workers help to find a home for anthony with a parent or parents who will love him. >> could be a two-parent, a single family, a family that has some medical background or skills working with a child that has some special needs as anthony has, a family that's going to be very patient with him and can demonstrate understanding. >> reporter: it's believed anthony could benefit greatly from a move to a home with a family that will care about him. how far he can go in life could depend on the time and attention a family is willing to give him while he's still just a little boy, ready to explore the world. barbara harrison, news 4, for

"wednesday's child." if you have room in your home, in your heart for a child who is waiting, please call our special adoption hotline. the number is 1-888-to-adopt-me or logon to our home page at nbcwashington.com. anthony and kids of all ages will enjoy a little outdoor recess weather for one final day before some april chill and some april showers come our way. a complete check of the forecast coming up.

it's time to check out the weekend scene. always nice to see you. let's start with the subject that's close to our hearts and stomachs, one of my favorite subjects in the word, food. you found some of the best places to learn about cooking and eating. >> right. you know those people who show up at dinner parties and have the perfect bottle of wine. >> not me. >> not me either. what's going on right now thanks to the foodie craze is so many stores and eve anbar locally are offering classes on how to improve your -- what we're calling your foodie iq. >> so what are some of the things you can learn at these classes? >> cupcake deck rating, offered by hello cupcake in dupont circle. >> i actually went to a cocktail seminar and learned about a very specific drink, but i know how to make a great manhattan now. >> wow. there you go. >> there's also cheese and wine pairing classes and anything that will get going all over

washington. they're not entirely free. they're about $30 to $70 typically, but you get to get out there and meet people and have one-on-one time with instructors who are there to answer your questions. >> sounds like so much fun, too. >> you get to eat. and i got to drink. it was great. >> sounds like the perfect night for me. moving over to george mason university, an art fest festival that lasts 24 hours. i don't know how this is possible. >> this is possible. we did this last year, actually, and it was such a success. it's called the impact festival. it starts tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. and continues until 7:00 a.m. on saturday. and this is all about showcasing everything that they're doing for the northern virginia -- dance, film, a film festival, classes. there's even going to be a few rollerses that will create one massive art print, and this will happen late into the night. it's 24 hours. >> happening all around the campus, different types of art at different locations. >> absolutely. >> any highlights you might want to attend? >> i think the steamroller thing

sounds pretty interesting. it will be this eight-footprint they'll be creating live. >> i love this. happy hour sushi. it can be expensive. >> yeah. and happy hour food is kind of unhealthy and not very good for you, like wings and onion rings. >> although i do like to eat that stuff. >> this is great because, yeah, you're right, this is a great opportunity to go to places that are a little bit pricey. cafe asia is a popular spot. lots of people know it, but every sing dale from 4:00 to 7:00 they're offering great deals on drinks and sushi. this is a popular spot. another great one is current, which most people think of as a bar. it's in dupont circle. it's very chic. they're a sushi bar, as well, and it's a great way to taste their sushi without breaking the bank. >> all good deals? >> sticky ray's, a lot of people know, they do a weird happy hour from 10:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. on mondays.

you can go to work, go to the gym and dinner and have your happy hour late at night. >> where? >> 8th street northeast. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. >> for more ideas for your weekend, logon to the around town section of nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on washingtonpost.com. we're working on several new stories this afternoon on news 4. more than 5 million americans live with alzheimer's disease and a new report finds minorities are at higher risk, but why. at 5:00 p.m., a warning tonight for pet owner who is treat their dogs and cats for fleas and ticks. those stories and much more coming up on news 4 starting at 4:00 p.m. a final check on the forecast with meteorologist chuck bell in the storm center. we want some relief from the heat and the pollen, chuck. >> we certainly do and a little relief from both is on the way. you'll only have to sniffle and sneeze your way through one more day before some cleansing showers move the late this evening into some of our channel 4 neighborhoods this afternoon. fairfax, virginia, already up to

77 degrees. the winds are starting to get a little bit on the gusty side, south wind at 12 miles per hour, great falls, virginia, already up to 78 degrees. gaithersburg now 78 degrees and a southwest wind at 5 miles per hour. herndon, virginia, up to 78, and annapolis, maryland, southwest wind has made it up to 76 degrees. there's a check of doppler. still many more dry hours to come around here. anything you're going to do this afternoon will be dry. rain chances do ramp up after the sun goes down this evening. showers with a potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms rolling in. the heaviest of the showers and storms likely between 9 pmt and 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning so you may have a rumble or two of thunder after you go to bed tonight and during the early morning hours tomorrow morning. most of the rain showers should be gone just in time for the morning rush tomorrow. but it's going to be noticeably colder. 20 to 25 degrees colder tomorrow than it was today. the weekend is looking great, off to a chilly start on saturday morning, downtown temperatures near 40. a lot in the suburbs, saturday

morning we'll be in the mid-30s. so really a big turnaround. you can see there our very mild april continues on into next week after really only probably one day with temperatures cooler than average, and that will be tomorrow. with highs only near 59 degrees. pollen and rain do not mix, so the hopefully the pollen will be gone by this time tomorrow. eun? >> thank you, chuck. well, if bugs make you squeamish than you would not want to be in australia right now. swarms of locusts have invaded this outback town of long raech. yuck. damaging vegetation and crops. locals say the bugs began gathering last thursday and by the end of the weekend most of the trees were bare. grasshoppers are known to change and become locusts who migrate when their colonies face food shortages. this plague is set to be the biggest to hit the area in decades. gross. all right. that's "news 4 midday" for today. thanks for joining us. be sure to tune in to "the daily

connection" later. i'll be back tomorrow morning starting at 4:30 a.m. hope you'll joining us then. have a great day. see you tomorrow.